Cuts to tuition benefits: Thumbs down
Over the past year, the University and faculty members have struggled over a central issue: employee benefits. Now, in the latest episode, the hiring repercussions of cutting tuition benefits last fall are starting to show.

Last year, faculty pushed the University to spend more to cover health insurance costs. In response, officials announced GW would only cover 90 percent of the cost of 18 credits for degree-seeking faculty and staff – down from 96 percent and 21 credits – and would use the savings to cover employee health insurance. Faculty protested, urging GW to keep its current tuition benefits intact while still making health care more affordable.

It’s understandable that the University needs to tighten its belt somewhere to help keep health insurance costs under control. But when considering the big picture, the cut to tuition benefits doesn’t make a lot of sense – especially now that it’s affecting hiring prospects.

GW has made it clear that attracting and hiring young, enthusiastic, research-focused professors is a priority. Given that plan, cutting their tuition benefits seems counterintuitive. Younger professors looking to earn additional degrees or carve out a place for their futures might be discouraged by the package the University is now offering.

But the majority of those taking advantage of tuition benefits aren’t actually faculty, but staff members – support staff and those who work in GW’s many administrative offices. The University may want to become a research powerhouse, but it can’t do so without the day-to-day support of staffers it employs. And with innumerable options for administrative employment located across D.C., GW should be doing all it can to keep the staffers it has and attract new ones, too.

Administrators have tried to show that they are listening to these concerns by establishing a task force. At the end of the day, the changes to tuition benefits isn’t something that staffers – let alone professors – wanted, and GW has to consider how to better gather their input and balance their needs.

J Street’s used oil to become fuel: Thumbs up
As per usual, there’s gross news out of J Street this week, but for what feels like the first time, it’s actually a good thing. This semester, the University entered into a partnership with a company that will recycle the used cooking oil from J Street’s fryers and turn 100 percent of it into renewable fuel.

Sounds kind of bizarre? Yes. Uncommon? Not really. Some of GW’s peer schools are among the more than 100 colleges across the country partnering with this company.

GW has made strides in sustainability ever since University President Steven Knapp’s tenure began, but the efforts have tended to be on a larger scale – like building LEED-certified buildings or investing in solar power.

This, on the other hand, is a green initiative that comes from an unlikely place. It’s an out-of-the-box idea, and it shows that GW’s commitment to sustainability extends beyond stories it can put in press releases and brag about to potential donors. The University also now gets a discount when it purchases oil, so the move is a cost-saving measure at a time when GW could use the extra cash – though the manager of campus dining declined to say exactly how much it’s saving GW.

This could be the first step of many in improving the reputation of one of campus’ most criticized services. Obviously, a green measure won’t solve all of the problems for which J Street is notorious – like a lack of satisfying, reasonably priced food options – but it might alleviate some ill will. Of course, we should be wary that this effect is intentional and remain conscious of the University’s spin abilities, but with all the benefits in this particular instance, maybe that’s OK.

The SA behaving badly: Thumbs down
Lately, the Student Association Senate has been acting less like the voice of our student body and more like the gridlocked Congress on the other side of the city. Executive Vice President Avra Bossov has had to scold senators who come to meetings unprepared and then argue on the floor.

But our SA senators aren’t members of Congress. They’re GW students, as Center for Student Engagement Director Tim Miller has reminded them, and they should keep that in mind.

Their lack of preparation comes as a surprise, especially when they take their campaigns so seriously every year. We’ll see that intensity again in just a few days when candidates cover every available space on campus with posters, launch websites with their platforms, report their campaign spending and start formal debates.

It doesn’t really make sense that senators would work so hard to become our representatives, and then neglect to learn the rules of the game when they do. This holds them back from doing what they’re supposed to do – what we elected them to do.

It might be tempting to ignore the bickering and disregard for procedure going on in the SA, since the group has seen relative success this academic year. The Colonial Health Center officially opened, Student Association President Nick Gumas’ peer-counseling program has received a green light from GW and students no longer have to pay over $1,000 to earn credit for summer internships. But those accomplishments have come out of the executive branch – not the legislature.

Senators need to take the time to learn how to be an effective governing body. Then they can improve student life at GW while gaining the political experience they likely wanted in the first place.

Members of the SA would do well to remember that they’re supposed to represent their fellow students – not get tied up in politics.

Diverse speakers come to campus: Thumbs up
It’s nothing new that high-profile speakers frequent GW’s campus. From Vice President Joe Biden to former defense secretary Leon Panetta to former White House press secretary Jay Carney, celebrity visits are a staple of social media posts and the University’s marketing campaigns.

These speakers are usually experts in fields like politics, government and international affairs. But in just the past 10 days, we’ve had a series of speakers who aren’t just dynamic, but who come from diverse backgrounds and organizations, and who can speak to a broader range of issues.

It’s been an exciting week on campus with guests like NPR hosts, Supreme Court justices a multicultural LGBT advocate and the author of “A Series of Unfortunate Events.”

With the exception of Daniel Handler – also known by his pen name, Lemony Snicket – these guests largely can easily come to GW by nature of our location. So however tired the hashtag might be, they do, at the end of the day, count as #OnlyatGW moments.

But it’s also good to see that we’re pulling speakers from all corners of the city. That’s the best way to ensure we’re catering to our diverse student body and bringing speakers who don’t just entertain the political science majors. In one way, it also speaks to GW’s focus on a broader variety of issues in general.

In the future, whether it’s student groups searching for speakers to cap off their own campaigns or GW looking for its next Lisner Auditorium headliner, both groups would do well to cast their nets wide.

The editorial board is composed of Hatchet staff members and operates separately from the newsroom. This week’s piece was written by opinions editor Robin Jones Kerr and contributing opinions editor Sarah Blugis, based on discussions with managing director Justin Peligri, design editor Sophie McTear, copy editor Rachel Smilan-Goldstein and design assistant Samantha LaFrance.

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